


Obligatory De-Aged Fic

by musicforlife101



Series: Captain Canary Hiatus Fics [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Babysitting, Captain Canary Hiatus Fest, F/M, Gen, Lazarus Pit - mentioned, Lenny is her favorite person ever, Sara is his favorite person, and Sara is the toddler who clings to his leg, little Leonard, mother hen Gideon, this trope called to me, tiny Sara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-05-26 12:01:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6237787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicforlife101/pseuds/musicforlife101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An encounter with Savage's men in the near future leaves Leonard Snart stuck as a six year old boy, unless Gideon and the team can devise a way to reverse it. In the meantime, little Leo won't leave Sara's side.</p>
<p>Kind of fill for Day 2 of the Captain Canary Hiatus Fest (Episode-Based), but more like piece of an episode that hasn't happened. Chapter 3 is my fill for Hiatus Fest Day 12 - Pick a Trope</p>
<p>The alternate version where Sara is hit with the de-aging ray begins in chapter 3</p>
<p>Nominated for a Captain Canary Fanfiction and Visual Arts Award 2016 - category: Best Use of Tropes<br/>(seriously, so so so honored!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Little Leo Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my kind of fill for day 2 of the Captain Canary Hiatus Fest, though it's only vaguely inspired by an episode. Night of the Hawk and Jax's transformation sort of influenced the way I handled this trope that absolutely wouldn't leave me alone.
> 
> And because I couldn't decide which would be cute (answer: both) I decided to post two versions, one with Leonard being de-aged and one with Sara.
> 
> Also, I don't own these lovely characters, the belong to the people at DC and Warner Bros.

Rip’s plan wasn’t really going to plan. As usual.

Savage’s men had ambushed them outside of Oslo in 2072. Jax and Stein had merged as soon as their enemies came upon them, and Firestorm now flew above the battle blasting the creepy disciples of their least favorite immortal psychopath. It seemed they were trying to kidnap Kendra, so Ray was covering her from the air and Rip from the ground as she flew back toward the Waverider. Sara and Leonard were left with a large number of their opponents.

They fought back to back, Sara using her staffs, elbows, and feet to fend off attackers, and Leonard blasting them with his cold gun.

Off to his right, Leonard caught movement behind the tree line. Some sort of strange, futuristic cannon was being rolled toward the clearing where they fought. He shot a pasty disciple with a ponytail and turned to get a better look at the cannon. As he turned toward it, the men gathered behind the gun fired. Without thinking, he used his momentum to push Sara out of the way of the silver beam heading their way.

When she got up from her knees, Sara couldn’t see Leonard, but she could hear Savage’s followers celebrating that their gun had worked. She hit the man closest to her in the head with her staffs and felt the anger and bloodlust rise within her. She attacked without prejudice, and didn’t stop moving until every single man either lay on the grass around her or had diminished to a shadow running through the trees.

From very far away, a voice called to her through the red mists. “Sara. Sara come back to us.” She blinked and Kendra was standing in front of her. There was no fear in her eyes. She reached cautiously for Sara’s shoulders, rubbing up and down to ground her in the sensation. “They’re gone.” Sara gave a jerky nod.

“So is Snart,” she said, voice rough. The others, who were scattered across the field, looked around them frantically. It’s not like their resident thief was hard to spot; he was over six feet tall.

Ray’s face contorted into a confused pout under his visor. “Snart!” He turned, cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled again.

“Spread out, we need to find him and get back to the Waverider before anymore of Savage’s disciples appear,” Rip said. “Kendra, Ray, fly over and see if you can spot him.” Kendra squeezed Sara’s shoulders and stepped back to take off. 

Rip didn’t holster his gun, but walked back over to the spot Leonard had been when he was hit. He looked at the grass, the trees on either side, and tried to figure out what the ray that hit him could have done. 

“What if he’s gone, just shot into another dimension or disintegrated or something,” Sara wondered aloud. 

“The grass isn’t singed, and no patches seem to be missing, so I doubt he’s been disintegrated. Besides, that tech doesn’t exist in this time period. He might have just been knocked back toward the trees.” Rip gestured to Stein and Jax, and the four of them spread out in the direction the beam had been shot.

“Snart!”

“SNART!”

“SNART!!!”

“Leonard! Leonard! Where are you?!” Sara heard a whimper from off to her left and she made for it. Maybe he was hurt and couldn’t answer their calls. “Leonard?” The same whimper.

She rounded a tree and almost stumbled upon jeans, boots, and Leonard’s cold gun. A little further up something small was shivering under his sweater and jacket. She knelt near his boots and reached a tentative hand toward the lump. Soft shushing noises escaped her lips and her hand lay warm and steady on what felt like a small back, maybe a child’s. The shuddering slowed and stopped. After a moment, a messy head of dark hair popped out of the sweater’s neck, followed by a child’s face that looked oddly familiar. Sara blinked and looked at the face again. Those blue eyes and striking features, though soft with childhood, were the same.

“Leonard?” The little boy’s eyes grew wide and his chin trembled. He nodded. “Do you remember me?” He looked scared.

“No,” he whispered. “I’m Leo, who are you?"

“I’m Sara. I’m you’re friend. We’ve known each other for a while now. You don’t remember that?” He shook his head. “Okay, I’m going to call our friends over and we can go back to our – um – spaceship, and we’ll make sure you’re not hurt. Okay?” Leo took a deep breath, glanced around himself, and nodded. “Rip!” she called, facing away from Leo so as not to startle him. “I found him!”

The Time Master raced over, crashing through the undergrowth. “Where is he?” Sara shifted so he could see Leo. “Oh, that’s not good.”

“You think?”

“Right. I’ll take his things if you can get him back to the ship.”

Sara nodded and turned back to Leo. “Do you want a piggy back ride back to our spaceship?” Rip gathered Leonard’s jeans, boots, gun, and holster, and Sara’s staffs, before calling the team back to the clearing over their comm units, all the while watching the former assassin interact with the tiny version of Leonard Snart.

“I want my mom,” Leo said, looking up at Sara. God, she thought his eyes were intense as an adult, but they were heartbreaking as a child.

She petted his hair ever so gently. “I know sweetie. We’ll take you home, just as soon as we make sure you’re not hurt. Okay?”

“Okay.” He slipped his arms more fully into the sleeves of his sweater, and Sara helped him put on the jacket, even thought he was practically swimming in it. She didn’t want him to catch cold. Then she helped him climb onto her back. She stood and hitched him a little higher.

“You okay Leo?”

“Yeah.” His voice was so soft.

Sara walked briskly out of the trees and toward the clearing, which led to where they’d left the Waverider farther up the hill. Kendra and Jax were waiting for her, while Rip had ushered Stein and Ray on ahead. He probably assumed Jax and Kendra would be the best for protection for scared, young Leo. Stein would probably obsess about the science of his de-aging, and Ray was still in his atom suit, which might be little too much for the boy to handle.

“Leo, do you remember them?” He whispered a ‘no’ against her neck. “This is Jax and Kendra. They’re your friends, too.” He nodded and pressed his face into the collar of her jacket. His nose was cold on her skin, but she only held him tighter as they traipsed up the gentle hill.

They entered the Waverider and Sara headed straight for the med bay. Leo sat straighter on her back, looking around him in barely contained wonder. She would have found it cute, if she hadn’t been so worried about him. Had that gun really made him a child again? And did he have the mind and memories of his childhood, or was he merely confused from the blast? Could they reverse it? Gideon would help; she had to.

Sara set Leo down on the seat nearest the med cabinet and farthest from the door. It was the one he’d always preferred when getting patched up. She unzipped the jacket and helped him slide it off. It was far too heavy for his small frame.

“Gideon, can you scan Leonard and – figure out what they’ve done to him?"

Rip stepped into the med bay as Gideon replied, “Of course, Miss Lance.” The blue light of the scanner bathed Leo in an unnatural glow for a few tense moments and then stopped. “It appears Mr. Snart has been hit with a primitive de-aging ray. There are three projects in the current time period attempting to perfect this effect. One of which is indirectly linked to Vandal Savage.”

“Is he alright, Gideon, health wise?”

“Mr. Snart is underweight, short for his age, slightly malnourished, and experiencing a heightened baseline level of anxiety.” Sara’s brow furrowed.

“Gideon,” Rip began, “was Mr. Snart in the same condition when he left the Waverider earlier today?”

“No, Mr. Snart was in good health this morning, thought his heart rate was slightly elevated.” It was just then that Sara noticed Leo flinched every time Gideon or Rip called him Mr. Snart.

She squatted in front of him. “Are you okay Leo?”

“Are they talking about my dad?” he asked. Of course. She knew his Lewis Snart had never been father of the year, had been probably the opposite, but she hadn’t realized he would be so frightened of him already.

“No Leo, they were talking about you.” She paused and looked up. She always felt like she should look at Gideon when she addressed her. “Gideon, I don’t think Leo is comfortable being called Mr. Snart right now.”

“I will make a note of it, Miss Lance.”

“Thank you, Gideon. Can you estimate Leo’s age?”

“Leonard is approximately 6 years and 3 months of age.” He didn’t look it. She saw what Gideon had meant by him being small and underweight.

“Does he need any medical attention?”

“Leonard should eat four well-balanced meals per day to provide proper nourishment, however confinement to the medical bay is not required.”

Sara touched Leo’s shoulder gently. “Do you want to get some clothes that fit you? And then maybe we can have some ice cream.” He nodded enthusiastically.

“Ice cream is not part of a balanced diet for a growing child, Miss Lance.”

“I know, Gideon,” Sara said with a smirk. “But Leo’s had a hard day and he deserves a treat.” If the AI could sigh in exasperation, she would have.

Rip cleared his throat. “Gideon and I will do some research into this – phenomenon. You take care of Mr. – Leonard.” 

Sara nodded and helped Leo off the bed. Then she took his hand and walked him to the fabrication room. His adult sweater was so big on him it brushed his feet when he walked. Rather than lengthening her stride as she usually did to keep up with Leonard, she walked slowly and let Leo take in the ship as they walked. His face was still colored with amazement and apprehension.

When they reached the fabrication room, Sara had Leo stand on the pad while she used the touch interface to choose his new clothes. Gideon’s sensors would scan Leo where he stood and produce clothes that were tailored perfectly for him. She chose a navy blue sweater and dark jeans that were relatively similar to what he wore as an adult, tapped the box to add undergarments, and made sure to add in some sneakers for him. The ship wasn’t the most comfortable place to go barefoot. Gideon produced the clothes in a neat stack beside Leo a few moments later.

“Do you need help getting dressed, or can you do it yourself?”

“By myself,” Leo said picking up the clothes in his thin arms. “Where is the bathroom?”

“You can change in the back here,” Sara said, leading Leo to the stalls at the other end of the room. They were set up like fitting rooms at a store, and Sara felt better knowing she could keep close if anything happened. She wasn’t used to Leonard being truly vulnerable or unable to protect himself. Sure, she’d saved his ass a good few times, but he’d returned the favor. Now he was a little kid, not even being fed enough at home, and she couldn’t just leave him.

Leo came out of the changing stall looking much more comfortably dressed, and even a little less timid. He handed Sara Leonard’s sweater with a little smile. She tossed it over one shoulder and then took his hand.

“Are you ready for that ice cream now?” He nodded vigorously. “Ok, let’s go get some. What’s your favorite flavor?”

He pondered this for a moment. “Mint chocolate chip.”

“Really? That’s my friend Felicity’s favorite flavor, too. I like chocolate chip cookie dough." 

“We could have mint chocolate chip cookie dough!”

Sara couldn’t help but smile. “We’ll see if Gideon can make some for us.”

 

* * *

  

Ten minutes later, Sara and Leo sat at the breakfast bar in the Waverider’s kitchen sharing a bowl of mint chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, despite Gideon’s initial nagging. (“I must remind you, Ms. Lance, that ice cream is not a nutritional meal for a young child.” “I know, Gideon, but sad kids deserve ice cream. I’m sure you have that somewhere in your memory banks.” “I will add a nutritional supplement to the ice cream.” “That’s the spirit!”) Leo was happily eating his ice cream when Ray entered the kitchen, no longer wearing any part of his ATOM suit. He turned his gaze on the newcomer, looking wary and a little protective of his treat, but not scared enough to want to leave.

“Leo, this is our friend Ray,” Sara said. “You can say hi to him. He’s nice, I promise.” She leaned in and stage whispered, “Even if he’s a little weird.” Leo giggled, which brought a smile to both of the adults’ faces.

The little version of their teammate looked up at Ray. “Hi,” he said in a quiet, but steady, voice.

“Hi Leo,” Ray replied, following Sara’s lead with his name. Normally Ray would call him Snart, if he called him anything at all, but that seemed so wrong for this sweet little boy. “Oh, are you having mint chocolate chip ice cream? That’s my friend Felicity’s favorite.”

“It’s mint chocolate chip cookie dough, actually,” Sara said with a smirk.

 

* * *

  

Rip and Professor Stein sat in the medical bay, looking over readouts that Gideon had provided and bouncing ideas off of each other and the AI. They all said more or less the same thing: Leonard Snart had been effectively de-aged to his 6-year-old self, complete with the health, memories, and anxieties he’d had. The de-aging rays of this time period were much less advanced than those in Rip’s time, although the only ones available for public use in 2166 were specifically designed to replace plastic surgery. Any ray that existed in this time period would be a bit of a crapshoot. While the cosmetic rays of Rip’s time could be tuned to make someone look five years younger, such early versions couldn’t be finely adjusted and often de-aged the mind as well.

“Has a method of reversal been discovered in your time?” Stein asked.

“Gideon, can you search the military databases for any clues as to how we can reverse Mr. Snart’s condition?”

“Of course, Captain." 

Stein flicked through the medical print outs again. “Perhaps I could work up a serum to age Mr. Snart.”

“We have to control it so he doesn’t become a senior citizen overnight!”

A slow chime sounded overhead. “I have found a promising military project related to their recent use of aging and de-aging rays. Based on my calculations, with assistance from Mr. Jackson and Dr. Palmer, Professor Stein should be able to recreate a tunable aging ray in approximately 28.6 working hours.”

“Excellent! Professor, please familiarize yourself with the plans and get Jax and Ray to help. I don’t want to risk jumping with Mr. Snart in this condition, and even cloaked, we won’t be safe here much longer.”

 

* * *

 

Sara had decided to give Leo a tour of the ship, and Ray had decided to tag along, chattering excitedly, as he was wont to do. Leo held her hand tightly and listened to her telling him what each area was for. He listened less to Ray’s babbling, even throwing her a disbelieving look at one point. It reminded her so forcibly of the looks she shared with his adult self when Ray was went off on one of his usual tangents.

They were almost to the bridge when Jax bounded up to them. “Hey Leo, how you doin’?”

“Good,” Leo answered, still gripping Sara’s hand tightly.

Jax hit Ray’s arm with the back of his hand. “Grey wants us down in the mechanical room. He and Gideon have some sort of plan for an aging ray. We need to get it done quick so we can leave.”

Ray nodded. “See you later Leo!” He waved and Leo gave a halfhearted wave back. They trotted off the way they came to help Stein with their project, while Sara continued down the hall with Leo.

When they reached the bridge, Kendra was sitting in the forward window with a cup of tea. She looked up and smiled at them. Sara picked up Leo under his arms and set him on the central console.

“Hi Leo,” Kendra said, a bright smile lighting up her face.

“Hi,” he said, smiling back.

“Are you having fun?”

Leo nodded. “Sara is showing me the ship. It’s amazing.”

“I bet.”

Sara instructed Gideon to bring up a map of their surroundings in contemporary time. She let Leo help her turn and zoom the hologram with his hands. With Gideon’s help, she showed him where they were and what Central City looked like in this time. The little boy giggled and gasped in delight at how the future tech responded to him and how different his hometown looked.

Kendra smiled over at them all the while, not willing to interrupt their moment. Part of her hoped Snart would remember these moments when he returned to adulthood. Sara was so sweet and attentive to him, and though he liked Kendra well enough, Sara was clearly his favorite person on board.

 

* * *

  

A couple of hours later, Kendra was in the kitchen baking cookies while Gideon’s replicator cooked dinner for the crew. Sara and Leo wandered in, both seeming lighter after their afternoon playing with Gideon’s holo functions. She picked him up and set him on the center island, before pulling out a glass and filling it with apple juice from the dispenser. He drank happily and Sara smiled, first at him, then at Kendra.

“Those smell really good,” Sara said, gesturing to the oven.

“They’re for after dinner,” Kendra said with just enough of a warning. “Gideon is cooking a chicken and vegetable casserole with rice pilaf for dinner. The guys haven’t left the machine room since Rip sent them to work on the aging ray. Gideon says they probably won’t be done until the day after tomorrow. Apparently even in 2166 it’s advanced technology.” The replicator emitted a soft bonging noise and the door rolled up. A steaming casserole and bowl of rice sat inside, both big enough to feed the whole team at their hungriest.

 

* * *

  

“Professor Stein, Mr. Jackson, Dr. Palmer, dinner is ready to be served in the kitchen. It is recommended you take at least a 30 minute break for sustenance or your productivity will decline and the aging ray may take longer to complete.”

“Thanks Gideon. We’ll head up to eat right now,” Ray answered, setting down the wireless solder gun and circuit board he was working on.

They’d divided up their tasks based on their strengths. Stein was working on anything that involved the physics and projectile aspects, Jax handled the major mechanics of the ray itself, and Ray dealt with the circuitry and computer elements. It was going well, but it was going to be a long night. They had already decided they were willing to sleep less to get it done quicker, even if Gideon nagged them about faltering productivity. Ray’s ATOM suit had been built on sleep deprivation and inspiration, so they knew they could do it.

 

* * *

 

Everyone took seats at the long table on the aft side of the kitchen, with Leo tucked between Sara and Jax, who he’d also started taking a shine to. They passed plates back and forth, poured drinks for one another, and generally ate like a big, weird, dysfunctional family. Leo kept quiet, taking everything in with wide eyes. His family life had probably never been like this, and it was a lot to handle all at once. Sara and Jax filled his plate from either side and he dug in eagerly.

“So how is the aging ray coming you three?” Rip asked.

“It’s a long and complicated project, but I believe we are progressing well,” Stein replied, looking over at Ray for his inevitable input.

“We’re a little ahead of Gideon’s schedule, I think, but we’re going to work through at least part of the night. We don’t want to be stuck here any longer than we need to.”

Rip nodded shortly. “Good.”

Ray, Jax, and Stein finished their food quickly and got up to head back to work. “I’ll bring you down some cookies later,” Kendra called as they left. They all called back their thanks and kept on toward the mechanical room. It was going to be a long night for them, she knew.

After a little while, Leo told Sara in a quiet voice that he was full. “Ok, you don’t have to finish it all. Is there something you want to do now?”

“Do you have any movies?”

“We have all the movies,” Sara replied with a grin. She watched Leo light up at the prospect of watching anything he wanted. “Why don’t you let Kendra help you wash up, while I get you some pj’s? Then we can go watch a movie in my room. How’s that?” He nodded and let Kendra lead him to the bathroom to wash his hands and face.

Sara made to get up when Rip reached out and grabbed her arm. “Be careful, Sara. You don’t know how much of this he may remember when he’s returned to his normal age, or which of you will be hurt the most whether he does or doesn’t.”

“He’s a scared little boy, Rip. And he’s my friend. Even if it’s not the cautious thing to do, I’m going to take care of him. I though you of all people would understand that.”

He moved back as though he’d been physically slapped. Sara stood from the table and walked toward the door. “Do you really think he would do the same if it were you in that position, Sara?”

She turned back and fixed him with a steady gaze. “I think Leonard Snart has been a loyal member of this team long enough for you to stop questioning whether he’d help any one of us.” Then she left the room, going down to pick up a set of pajamas from the fabrication room.

Kendra met her there with Leo only a few minutes later and they waited together while he changed in the back. Leo was a shy boy and definitely didn’t want to change his clothes in front of these older women he barely knew.

“He’s sweet,” Kendra said. “And he really likes you. You’re good with him.”

Sara ducked her head and scuffed the toe of her boot on the floor. “He needs someone right now. And he’s my friend.” She sighed. “Rip thinks me getting close to him when he’s little is going to be a problem when we get him back to normal.”

“Does he think Leonard won’t be happy if he remembers this?”

“Maybe. I think he’s worried how I’ll react if he doesn’t remember.” Kendra nodded, wanting to reach out and connect, touch Sara’s shoulder, something to make her know she didn’t have to go through it alone. But Sara’s arms were crossed in front of her, and she wasn’t sure it would be welcome just then. “But I can’t not care for him.”

“He’s closest to you. Even before Mick, he was getting closer to you.”

“Yeah.” Sara gave her a wry smile. “And I doubt the others know much about his childhood, beyond being the son of a thief, anyway.”

This time Kendra did reach out, touching Sara’s elbow and grounding her. “You’re doing the right thing. He needs you, and it’s pretty clear he’s picked you over the rest of us.” She smiled and Sara smiled back, though not quite as brightly. Leo stepped out from the changing stall then, holding his clothes and wearing his sneakers. The ship’s hallways were really not kind on bare feet.

“Ready for a movie?” Leo nodded and trotted over to Sara. She took his clothes in her arm and his hand in the other.

“Good night, Kendra,” he said waving. She waved back, and once they were gone, went to the kitchen to plate up some cookies for the guys downstairs.

Sara led the way to the crew quarters. There were five rooms on a short corridor, and the captain’s quarters were a single room nearer to the bridge. Each room in the crew wing slept two comfortably and three at a pinch. Due to their recent departures, the only people sharing a room were Ray and Jax, the latter because he was youngest and needed at least _some_ time and space away from Stein. Before Carter’s death, Kendra and Sara had shared a room, too, but Kendra had moved into his vacant room shortly thereafter. Leonard had shared with Mick, but his room was now his alone.

Having grown up with an older sister in a small house, Sara enjoyed having a room to herself, but she did miss the company sometimes. Kendra had been a good roommate, but she was also still relearning how to have somewhat normal female friends. It wasn’t something she’d really had in quite a while. Though, she would admit that Kendra had only qualified as normal until her powers manifested. So maybe she still didn’t know what it was like.

Leonard’s room was the last on the hall, and Sara’s was two doors up, with Ray and Jax’s room in between. She pressed the button to open the door and let Leo wander inside. While he looked around at the trinkets, photos, and weapons she had collected, Sara folded his clothes and set them on the chair in the corner. She trusted the boy not to touch anything that looked sharp or heavy. Not when she knew the kind of man his father had been. She toed off her boots and went to sit on her bed, curling her legs under her.

“Gideon, can you play the Disney movie Robin Hood?”

“The animated film from 1973?” Gideon responded.

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“Of course, Ms. Lance. Enjoy the movie.” 

The far wall could double as an interface for the central computer on the Waverider, allowing Sara to do research or watch movies or call up photos and newspapers from her own time if she wanted. When she and Kendra had shared this room, they’d spent quite a few nights eating synthesized popcorn and watching old movies. Gideon could access anything for them.

Leo looked at a picture of Sara with Laurel and their father for a few moments longer, then kicked off his own shoes under the chair next to hers, and climbed up on the bed.

By the halfway point, Sara was leaning back against the wall, and Leo was sprawled out with his head in her lap. She stroked his hair, just content to sit for a while and watch an anthropomorphic fox take on vigilante work like her friends back in Star City did. She could tell that Leo was starting to get sleepy, but she wouldn’t fight him on it. Throughout the day, she’d had to keep reminding herself that this wasn’t his real childhood. Maybe that was why she’d been treating him and spoiling him. He deserved a day of childhood joy that he clearly hadn’t been allowed in his real childhood.

“Are you ready for bed?” Sara asked as the credits rolled up the wall and Gideon switched off the screen. He nodded. “Where do you want to stay? Your room is down the hall, but you would be by yourself. Or you could stay in here. There’s a sleep pod that pulls out of the wall over there.” She gestured to the wall they were still facing that had been playing their movie.

“I can stay here?”

“Yes, is that what you want to do?” He nodded. “Ok, let’s get your bed out.” She climbed off her bed, trying to shake out her numb legs. On the opposite wall, there was a rectangular button the width of her hand, which she pushed to release the third sleep pod. It slid out of the wall like a trundle bed. The second was above her bed like a bunk, but she wasn’t comfortable with having Leo sleep up on Kendra’s old bed. She didn’t want him falling off in the night.

Leo climbed into the floor level bed and Sara tucked him in. He smiled gently and huddled into the pillow and blanket. Once he was comfortable, she went off to the back of the room where the double-sided wardrobe stood. She and Kendra had requested a privacy screen from Gideon when they first moved in. It had come in handy, particularly since neither of them tended to lock the door and the guys visited them relatively often. It also gave the room a little more definition and made it feel less bland and sterile. That mattered more to her now than it had before.

Behind the screen, Sara changed into her pajamas and tossed her clothes into the laundry chute. She was picking up other things when she came upon Leonard’s sweater, the one he’d been wearing when they found him earlier. She should throw it in the laundry as well.

Sara slipped the sweater on and climbed into her bed.

“Gideon, lights out.” The room went completely dark. Leo whimpered. “Gideon, lights to 5 percent.” She could see Leo huddled in the blanket. “Are you scared of the dark Leo?” He nodded, eyes shining in the low light. “Is this okay or do you want it brighter?”

“This is good.”

“Ok, good night. Sweet dreams.” She heard his whispered reply and then his breath slowly began to even out. Sara lay there in the dim light for a long while. It hadn’t been on her mind most of the day, the possibility that Gideon’s fix wouldn’t work, that Ray, Stein, and Jax wouldn’t be able to build it. It wasn’t something she wanted to consider, and the team had tackled worse, probably. But in the dark, with a timid six-year-old version of one of her closest friends, even the slight possibility was terrifying. She tugged the collar of his sweater up to her nose, burying herself it in. It smelled like him, of course, like her friend who watched heist movies in here with her, her teammate who always watched her back. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.


	2. Little Leo Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the guys build a ray gun, Leo plays tag with Sara and Kendra, and our dilemma is resolved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your wonderful comments and kudos and bookmarks! It really makes my day!
> 
> I've been so focused on graduate school applications and my original fiction that I forgot how fun and amazing it feels to write fanfic, and to have that immediate feedback. I'm so glad all of you are enjoying this, and I'm so, so grateful for your response.
> 
> Enjoy!

Sara awoke after only a handful of hours, staring across the room at the blank wall and the tiny version of Leonard Snart asleep in the extra bed. He looked peaceful and almost happy with his eyes closed and lashes leaving inky shadows on his pale cheeks. For a few moments, she just watched him, watched his chest move slowly up and down. Then she quietly got out of bed and walked back to the wardrobe to get dressed.

Leo woke up an hour later, while Sara was on her bed stretching. He sat up and mirrored her position, slowly pulling his legs into approximately the same shape. She smiled and continued slowly going through her routine. Leo followed along. When she finished, she smiled over at him.

“Do you want some breakfast?” He nodded. They both slipped on their shoes and Sara walked him to the main bathroom to change and go through his morning routine. Gideon produced a small toothbrush and a step stool for him. After a few minutes, he came back out and Sara took his hand again.

He seemed lighter today, less serious and sad, and it made her glad to see it. When they entered the kitchen, Kendra was already there using the built in espresso machine to make various coffees for the crew. Stein, Jax, and Ray were sitting at the table, huddled over their coffees and a large plan. They were all discussing in loud, exhausted voices. Rip sat in his usual seat, a bit apart from the others, tucking into a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast. Kendra handed Rip a steaming mug, before she saw Sara and Leo walk in.

“What can I get you to eat Leo?” Kendra asked, smiling down at him.

“Can I have a waffle?” he asked.

“Of course, and I’ll get you your usual, Sara.”

“Thanks, Kendra.” She pulled two glasses out of the cabinet. “Do you want some juice, Leo?” He nodded. She filled one glass with apple juice and the other with water from the dispenser. She set his glass down at the seat beside Jax and hers on his other side. Kendra was finishing making her coffee when Sara walked over toward the replicators. She tapped in Kendra’s usual bagel, cream cheese, and fruit into the replicator’s command screen.

“I’ve got your cappuccino,” Kendra said, looking over to her friend with a smile. “Go ahead and sit, I’ll bring the food out.”

Sara shook her head. “No, you go. You’re always taking care of everyone. I’ll bring the food over. Go keep Leo company. God knows the guys haven’t even realized the rest of us are here.” The demi-goddess chuckled. But she went to the table, leaving Sara’s coffee at the place beside Leo, and sitting down with her own across from them. A few moments later, Sara came in carrying their three breakfast plates with ease. She set them down in front of their respective owners and then took her seat.

“Sleep well?” Kendra asked, spreading cream cheese on her cinnamon raisin bagel.

“Well enough. How are they doing?” Sara asked, jerking her head toward the three guys at the end of the table, who were still loudly talking and pointing to various things on the plan in front of them.

Kendra pursed her lips. “They seem to be making good progress. I mean, they barely slept last night. Gideon recommended I add extra espresso to all of their coffees. Apparently Stein told her off after the third time she insisted they go to bed.” Sara snickered into her coffee.

Jax leaned back in his seat. “Oh, hey Sara, hi Leo.” Leo waved around his fork. “How’s your waffle?”

The little boy swallowed. “Good.”

“Jefferson, we should get back to work.”

“Yeah, alright. We’ll see you later, Leo.” He stood, ruffled Leo’s hair, and followed Stein and Ray out of the kitchen.

Sara finished her garden omelet quietly and turned to Rip. “Kendra made breakfast, you can take care of the dishes.”

“I think technically _Gideon_ made breakfast.”

“All the more reason for you to clean up then.” Sara turned to Leo, effectively ending the discussion. “Leo, what do you want to do today?”

He scrunched up his face, thinking for a moment. “We can play hide and seek!”

Kendra and Sara shared a look across the table. “How about tag instead,” Sara suggested. The last thing they needed was to lose Leonard somewhere on the Waverider.

He nodded vigorously, then put his hand on Sara’s shoulder. “You’re it!” Then he was running. Sara and Kendra were up in a flash and chasing after him, following his giggles as he disappeared around corners.

The metal corridors rang with laughter and running. At one point, Rip rounded a corner only to have Leo weave around his legs, Kendra duck under his arm, and Sara almost crash into him, all breathless with laughter. He sighed in exasperation, but couldn’t fully fight his smile. The sad little boy of yesterday had been more distressing than he would have liked to admit. It made his heart clench for Jonas. Playing with Kendra and Sara was much better, even if they were wreaking havoc on his ship.

Much later, Leo lay on the floor of the bridge with Sara and Kendra on either side, and a plate of PB&J sandwiches beside them. Sara and Kendra had cajoled Gideon into playing Peter Pan on the ceiling for them. They were tired and still breathless from playing, but Leo was smiling and munching on his second sandwich. Gideon hadn’t been happy about the sandwiches either, and had insisted on adding a nutritional supplement to their meal again, but Sara had just rolled her eyes and smiled fondly. Gideon liked to sass Leonard, but it seemed like she was just as enamored with this tiny version of him as the rest of the crew. Or at least as enamored as an AI was capable of being.

 

* * *

 

When Kendra decided that it was time to start on dinner for the crew, Leo and Sara trotted along after her. She picked up Leo and set him on the counter, taking the sandwich plate from him so she could wash it in the sink. Kendra stood behind her at the replicator, sifting through the options for dinner. Ray had said something about Salisbury steak the other week. Maybe that would work with some mashed potatoes and vegetables. She keyed in the meal to the command screen and turned back to her friends.

“Do you want something to drink, Leo?” she asked him, standing beside Sara as she dried the plate. 

“Can I have some chocolate milk?”

“I’ll get it,” Sara said, turned back to put away the plate and pull out a glass at the same time. She filled the glass and handed it to Leo. He kicked his feet back and forth and drank deeply.

Rip wandered in a few moments later. “Have you three enjoyed your day running amok on my ship?”

Sara smirked at him. “Yeah, it’s been pretty fun. Did you have a good day, Leo?”

The little boy nodded. “It was really great!” He set his glass down. “Thank you Sara.” And there was the serious little boy with a mean dad hiding under that smile. Sara stiffened her lip. Then she stepped forward and wrapped him in a hug. He was startled for a moment, but then wrapped his arms tightly around her neck.

“I’m glad you had fun with us, Leo.” She could feel his little fingers pressing against her shoulders. Rip watched them with an uncomfortable frown. He was concerned about the whole situation, especially the emotional shambles it could make of his team, or at least two of his best fighters.

 

* * *

 

Gideon’s calm voice came through the speakers in the machine room. “Professor Stein, Dr. Palmer, Mr. Jackson, dinner is ready to be served in the kitchen.”

“We’re almost done, Gideon. Five more minutes!” Ray said, grinning over at Jax as they fine-tuned the aging ray. Seven minutes later, the tired, somewhat sweaty trio traipsed up to the kitchen. Kendra and Sara had brought out plates and cutlery, and were starting to serve Leo, Rip, and themselves. Rip was sitting in his usual seat, mouth twisted in a slight frown and fingers drumming on the table.

Sara plopped mashed potatoes on Rip’s plate. “You look impatient,” she said. He looked up at her, surprised for a moment. “If you want things to go faster, you should help.”

“I’m simply concerned that it will be unsafe to remain in this location for much longer.”

Sara took her seat as the guys got their drinks and sat in the three seats at the end of the table they’d been using the last couple of days. At least they didn’t have the diagram spread out over their plates, tonight. The guys passed their plates around and helped dish out food to one another.

“Oh, Salisbury steak, this is great!” Ray said as Stein put two steaks on his plate.

“I’m glad you like it,” Kendra said. “How’s the aging ray coming?”

“We’ve made significant progress today, and we believe we will be ready to cure young Leo after dinner,” Stein answered.

Sara raised an eyebrow. “Have you tested this on anything yet?”

Jax paused with a forkful of mashed potatoes halfway to his mouth. “We aged a few apples earlier. And we just tuned the ray to grow a strawberry plant.”

“We wanted to grow a tree to prove we could tune it for decades of aging, but Gideon wouldn’t give us any seeds. She said the tree would break the ship,” Ray said, pouting a little.

“But all of our tests have been successful, Sara,” Stein added. She gave a curt nod and turned back to her dinner.

The guys were very excited by their accomplishment, and were eating with a relish that had been quite absent on board the last few weeks. Sara was a bit more wary of what might happen if her teammates weren’t quite as clever as they thought they were. She sighed and glanced at Leo out of the corner of her eye. It had to work.

After everyone had finished, Ray and Jax offered to clean up, insisting that Kendra not move an inch. She had been keeping them sustained throughout the project, with a little help from Gideon, and they wanted to prove that they appreciated her. She was happy to let them, of course. But Sara had more pressing issues. She really needed to explain what was about to happen to Leo.

“Leo, we need to talk for a minute,” she began, not quite knowing how she would continue.

“Okay,” he said, looking up at her with those heartbreaking eyes.

“I know we said that we were going to make sure you weren’t hurt and take you home, but the truth is, there is something wrong. You’re not supposed to be 6, Leo. Normally, you’re older than I am, and we can’t leave until we get you back to your real age.”

He held her gaze, thinking. He didn’t bother to ask how; it wasn’t really important. “Will they fix me?”

She wanted to tell him he wasn’t broken, but that wasn’t exactly what he meant. “I think their machine will work. Jax, and Ray, and Professor Stein are some of the smartest people I’ve ever met.”

“Okay.”

“When they’re done, we’ll go down to their workshop and they can try to help you.” He nodded firmly and she looked away. It was hard to look at the trust he gave her when she wasn’t sure this plan would even work. A moment later, he leaned into her side and just rested there. She hoped this wouldn’t all be for nothing.

 

* * *

 

When the crew gathered in the mechanical room that had served as workshop and lab for the last two days, everything was already set up just so. The aging ray, which looked rather a lot like the de-aging ray had looked, stood on one side of the room, with space behind for everyone. One of Leonard’s shirts and a pair of his sweats sat folded on a chair, and a screen closed off a small alcove.

“We thought it would be best for Leo to change into big Leonard’s clothes before we use the device,” Ray said, gesturing to the clothes. Sara tacitly agreed. Leonard was always covered up, even his pajamas had long sleeves, and he would not appreciate bursting out of child-sized clothes in front of the rest of the team. She’d have to remind him of this when he was back to normal. Maybe he’d appreciate Ray a bit more.

Leo picked up the clothes and headed to the little niche to change. When he came back in his oversized pajamas, Sara almost cooed. And Kendra did make a sort of squeaking sound. He was drowning in them, holding up the waist of his sweats and walking on the legs of them, while the shirt fell almost to the floor.

“Are you ready?” Sara asked when he reached them. He nodded.

“Ok Leo, we need you to stand on this X on the floor, okay?” Jax said, directing him gently toward it. “When Professor Stein starts the ray, you’ll see it come at you. It’s like an orangey gold light.” Leo nodded and stood exactly where he was told. He never asked if it was going to hurt, which struck Sara as disconcerting about half a second after Stein pressed the button.

Ray gave Leo a thumbs up, Jax nodded at him, and Kendra looked at him with open concern. Sara tried her best smile, but knew it fell flat when Leo smiled back the way medics do when they’re trying to reassure a patient as they pour disinfectant on a gaping wound. Stein pressed the button.

An orangey gold light did come out of the cannon, and shoot toward Leo. It hit him square in the chest and knocked him back. When the afterimage of the light cleared, they saw he was sitting about a foot behind the mark with his legs out in front of him. Still six years old, and now a bit green around the gills.

He snuffled. It hadn’t hurt, but he felt really funny now. “Sara,” he said. “I don’t feel so good.” She was kneeling in front of him in seconds.

“Ok, let’s get you up to bed. You can lie down and maybe you’ll feel a little better, yeah?” He nodded and she moved to pick him up. He wrapped his arms around her neck and legs around her waist so he was attached to her front like an octopus. She wrapped both arms around him, one rubbing senseless patterns across his back. She barely spared a dirty look at her teammates before she was out the door.

The walk back to her room was long, but it gave Leo a little time to calm down. His face was pressed into her neck and she could feel his breath slow and even out. He was almost asleep by the time they entered her room. She lay him down on the sleeping pod, sliding the oversized sweats off his legs and leaving them beside the bed. She covered him with the blanket and dropped a whisper light kiss on his temple.

Leo was fast asleep by the time Sara finished getting ready for bed. She didn’t think she’d sleep, too frustrated and worried that the ray hadn’t worked. Part of her wanted to hope that it just took time, he was being aged more than thirty years after all, and she didn’t know how immediate the de-aging effects had been. But the guys hadn’t said anything about a delay during their tests. She sighed, staring at the featureless metal ceiling, and curling herself deeper into Leonard’s sweater until eventually her brain shut down and let her rest.

  

* * *

 

The room was dark when his eyes opened, and it was set up differently than he’d expected somehow. This was Sara’s room. She’d brought him here, carried him here. He grappled in the dark for the sweats he remembered her leaving somewhere, the sleeves of his thermal shirt pulling and stretching across his arms. Once he found them, he immediately slipped them on under the covers and felt more comfortable for it. 

“Gideon, lights to 10 percent.” He kept his voice low to avoid waking Sara, if she was even there.

As the lights came up, he realized she was asleep on her bed, looking peaceful for once. He wondered if he should go, return to his own room now that he’d been restored to at least an adult age. He felt like he had the morning they’d been ambushed, but a check in the mirror and a scan from Gideon would probably be the more accurate tell. But regardless, he was no longer a scared kid who needed Sara to take care of him. He should go.

But she would worry if she woke up and he was gone. He knew she would. It was in her nature, and if the last day and half had taught him anything, it was that Sara cared rather more than she liked to let on. No, he couldn’t just leave. Should he wake her? That was a more difficult question. It was probably late, or very early, but he didn’t feel very tired anymore.

Yes, he decided, he should wake her. She’d want to know immediately; she’d been so worried throughout this ordeal, even if his six-year-old self had only paid attention to the fun and games. He remembered her face when he’d asked for his mom, when Gideon had rattled off his childhood ailments, when she’d insisted they share a bowl of ice cream just to make him smile.

“Assassin,” he called gently. She murmured. “Sara, wake up.” Her eyes fluttered and then snapped open. She stared at him for a moment, completely frozen. He gave her a crooked grin. “I think you might owe the eggheads an apology.”

“You’re back,” she said, tears in her voice if not her eyes. “When did – how did – ?”

“Beats me. I woke up like this.” He smirked.

“How much do you remember?” It was a tentative, uncomfortable question. She’d been worried he wouldn’t, or maybe that he would.

He pretended to think. “I remember seeing Savage’s men aim their ray cannon towards us, so I pushed you out of the way and got hit myself. Next thing I knew, I was coming to inside my own sweater and a beautiful assassin was carrying me back to the ship. I remember spending a day and a half with the best babysitter I’d ever had.” She smiled widely, the rest of her posture relaxing with relief. “I understand now why people fantasize about the babysitter.”

Her face colored and she threw her pillow at his head, eliciting a low, loud laugh. She collapsed on her bed and laughed with him. It was all so ridiculous and strange, but he was back with her now, and he remembered the time they’d spent. He watched her chuckles fade to giggles and smiles, his fond expression almost tangible.

“Thank you Sara, really. These last few days have been some of the best I ever spent as a child.”

That warmed her heart even as it broke it. “You deserve it, Leonard. Everyone deserves joy in childhood, everyone deserves to be loved.”

“Even a good-for-nothing crook like me?”

“A crook, yes, but I think we both know you’ve never really been good-for-nothing.” He shrugged, not willing to dispute that, and tossed her pillow back to her. “But yes, even you deserve that.”

“You do too, Sara. You know that, right?”

“I had a good childhood.”

“I meant you deserve to be loved.” He held her gaze for a long moment.

Sara tucked the sleeve of his sweater under her chin and curled up facing him. “Will you stay? I can’t have you disappearing in the night or something.”

Leonard nodded and got comfortable in the sleep pod, lying on his side so he could see Sara. He smiled to calm the worry in her eyes, to remind her he was here, at the way she looked wearing his sweater. She returned the smile and dimmed the lights to 5 percent so she could still see his face.

He had no doubt they would be more than okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will probably be posting the final two chapters in the next couple of days. (Work and other prompts for Hiatus Fest will be taking some of my time.)
> 
> The final two chapters will be an alternate version where Sara is de-aged instead of Leonard, not a sequel. This happening twice in a row is stretching it, even for me. But I've already got so many adorable scenes in my head, so I hope to have it up very soon!


	3. Tiny Sara Day 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2!
> 
> In which Sara is hit with the de-aging ray instead and decides Lenny is her favorite person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm counting this as my late fill for Hiatus Fest Day 12 - Pick a Trope
> 
> I finished it while I was on vacation, since I've had most of it done for a while. This is the version of the story where Sara is hit instead, so expect a lot of similar plot. It was really helpful to have most of the team out of the way so I could focus on Sara and Leonard. It was a lot of fun to write, so I hope you enjoy!

Things never ever went according to Rip’s plan. Ever.

They’d left the Waverider late in the morning, after the fog had cleared from their hiding place outside of 2072 Oslo. Less than halfway to the city, where Gideon had assured them they could find credible information on Savage throughout history, they’d been attacked. His men were on them in moments, going after Kendra and not afraid to go through the others. Ray covered her from the air and Rip from the ground as she winged it back to the Waverider. Sara and Leonard were left with a large number of their opponents.

They fought back to back, Sara using her staffs, elbows, and feet to fend off attackers, and Leonard blasting them with his cold gun.

Off to her left, Sara caught movement at the tree line. A few of Savage’s men were pulling a large, futuristic cannon toward the clearing. They stopped at the edge of the trees and moved behind it to aim. Sara saw the ray hurtling toward them and turned, using her strength and momentum to knock Leonard to the ground. With him out of the way, the ray hit her squarely in the chest and knocked her backward.

Leonard grappled for his cold gun and shot a couple of goons approaching him before climbing to his feet. Sometimes he forgot who strong Sara was. He turned to say something about that, but she wasn’t there, wasn’t anywhere. His control slipped. He spun with his cold gun, taking out a swath of men approaching him. The guys at the tree line were celebrating behind their cannon. Leonard set his sights on them, cutting through anyone one who got in his way with cold fury.

The men grabbed their cannon and ran as fast as they could from his terrifying intent. Firestorm flew above, covering Snar’s back. Between them, the tables turned in the battle and both Ray and Kendra returned. Within minutes, every one of their attackers was either fleeing in fear or frozen in the clearing. Leonard stood at the tree line breathing heavily. He watched the three men shrinking into the distance with their ray gun. Ray landed behind him, dropping a hand onto his shoulder. Leonard shrugged it of, violently.

“They’re gone, Snart,” Ray said.

“So is Sara,” he replied, a snarl forming on his lips. The others looked around, glanced at one another, and tried not to meet Snart’s gaze. There was no sign of her anywhere.

Leonard walked back toward the spot she’d been when she was hit. Rip met him there, both kneeling to examine the grass. Both captains were frowning deeply. There was nothing wrong with the grass, nothing to explain what had hit her, what had happened to Sara.

“Maybe she was just knocked back,” Rip suggested. Leonard didn’t think he sounded very confident. “I don’t see evidence of much. She could just be unconscious somewhere among the trees.” He gestured back toward the tree line.

They looked over, waiting as if they expected her to come out of the forest at any moment, pissed that she’d missed the fight. She didn’t.

“Everyone spread out and look for Sara! Ray, Kendra, take the skies! Jax, Professor, we’ll search the forest.”

They split up and headed into the trees, Leonard several strides ahead of his teammates. They were all shouting and crashing through the brush, trying to get her attention. Leonard listened, waiting for a response from Sara, some sign of where she was. He heard Jax call out, and in the lull after his voice faded there was a small cry. It was close, but something was off about the sound. Leonard made for it, coming around a low bush to find a tiny blonde head poking out the top of Sara’s leathers. The little girl was wrapped tightly in Sara’s leather jacket and looked up at Leonard with big, wet, blue eyes.

He crouched to her level immediately. “Sara?” She nodded feverishly, shaking like a leaf. “Sara, it’s Leonard. Do you remember me?” She shook her head this time. “I’m your – friend. I’m going to keep you safe, okay? I’m going to call our team and we’ll take you somewhere safe and warm.” She shivered. “Over here! I found her!” he yelled over his shoulder.

It was cold out, cold enough for Sara to have worn her jacket today, and she was so little. Leonard stripped out of his parka and his sweater, leaving him in his thermal undershirt. He pulled the sweater over Sara’s head and then wrapped her in her white leather jacket as well. The little girl snuggled in and her shivers slowed. Satisfied, Leonard put his parka back on just as Rip and Jax arrived from opposite sides.

“What?” Jax said, voice flat with surprise and confusion.

“That’s not good,” Rip said.

Leonard rolled his eyes. “You don’t say.”

Rip stuttered. “We need to fix this.”

“We _need_ to get her back to the ship.”

“Right, yes,” Rip agreed. “Why don’t you and Mr. Jackson take care of that? I’ll go gather the team.” Leonard raised an eyebrow and turned to Jax.

He opened his mouth to ask Jax to carry Sara when the little girl latched onto his arm. Leonard looked down at her with a blank expression. She looked up at him with an impish smile. Great, tiny Sara had taken a shine to him. He tried to dislodge her enough to pick her up more easily, but she wasn’t having it. Giving in, he picked her up with one arm and curled her against his side, trying to keep her jacket in place. But no matter how he shifted, she slipped and slid against his parka.

“Jax, take Sara’s stuff,” Leonard said, handing him the leather jacket as well. Then he shifted Sara inside his parka, supporting her underneath with one arm and zipping his jacket halfway. She rested her head against his collarbone and he sighed. “Are we going back to the ship, kid?” he asked Jax sharply when he noticed him watching instead of moving. Jax hopped to after that.

When they reached the clearing, Kendra was waiting for them, which was good because Leonard didn’t particularly feel like dealing with Stein or Ray and their science babble at the moment. He was focused on keeping her happy and occupied for the moment. That had been the trick when Lisa was little. At least she didn’t seem scared. But he was starting to think that might have been preferable. He was…concerned.

“Oh,” Kendra said, a breathy little sound that said everything about how cute she thought Sara was as a small child, with her sheet of blonde hair and big blue eyes. It was true, tiny Sara was adorable, but Leonard tried not to focus on that. She wasn’t supposed to be so little.

He jerked his head toward the hill the Waverider was parked on and started walking toward it. Kendra and Jax were on his heels, sharing a brief glance behind Snart’s back.

Back inside the Waverider, Leonard carried Sara directly to the medical bay. He unzipped his parka and tried to set her down on one of the beds, but she wasn’t having it. Little Sara had grabbed a fistful of his shirt collar and was not letting go. He pried her hand off his shirt with one of his fingers and got her to sit on the bed, though being still was clearly not in her repertoire yet. Rip entered the med bay a moment later.

“Gideon,” Leonard said. “What’s happened to Sara?”

A blue light swept over her several times. “She has been de-aged to approximately 4 years and 6 months of age by a primitive de-aging device. There are three de-aging ray projects in progress in the current time period. One of them is linked to Vandal Savage.”

“So we go find these idiots and force them to reverse it,” Snart suggested.

“There are no tunable aging rays being created in the current time period.”

“It’s not like reversing the suction on a vacuum cleaner, Mr. Snart,” Rip said. “Even in my time, there are few aging or de-aging devices outside of the military. And those approved for public use are alternatives to cosmetic surgery.”

Leonard grunted. “Options Gideon?”

“I have found a military project from 2142 that Professor Stein, Mr. Jackson, and Dr. Palmer could build in our maintenance bay. It would have the power and capacity to restore Ms. Lance to her correct age.”

“How long will that take Gideon?” Rip asked.

“Under optimal working conditions and rest, approximately 28.6 working hours. Shall I gather and brief Professor Stein, Mr. Jackson, and Dr. Palmer?”

“I wish you would, Gideon,” Snart said. “Can you scan Sara’s current health?”

“Yes, Mr. Snart.” The blue light scanned her. “Ms. Lance is in good health.”

“The same as this morning?”

“No, Mr. Snart. She is in better health than she was this morning, and her body contains significantly less scar tissue.”

Sara looked up at Leonard. “Le – Lenar – Lenny!” She smiled blindingly. “Lenny, I’m hungry.” He sighed. She was attached to him now, wasn’t she?

“Why don’t we get you clothes that fit first?” She looked down at his sweater, shrugged, and then nodded. She lifted her arms, indicating she wanted him to pick her up. With a put upon sigh, he did so, carrying her out of the med bay and toward the fabrication room. He had hoped to meet Kendra on the way so he could pass off choosing Sara’s clothes, but no such luck.

It had been a long, long time, decades in fact, since he’d had to help dress Lisa, and even then it was mostly zipping dresses and tying shoelaces. She’d picked out her own clothes, being stubborn and independent even as a little girl. Maybe Gideon would help. He wouldn’t like it though.

He entered the fabrication room and set her down on the pad. It was round and glowed a soft blue, so convincing her to stand on it wasn’t terribly difficult. She thought it was pretty, and kind of cool. He stepped away to hopefully choose something on the touch interface, but before he made it two steps something was wrapped tightly around his leg. He looked down and Sara was there, sitting on his foot and holding tightly to his knee. She was grinning at him again. Leonard sighed and picked her up, balancing her on his hip while he stepped over to the screen. After a few moments, he was able to find a section of the system that would be suitable for her, and picked out a pair of black jeans, some sneakers, and a long-sleeved green shirt, and checked the box for undergarments.

“Sara, I need you to stand on this circle now. Just for a minute.” She fixed him with a sassy expression, but stood more or less still on the pad when he put her down. He tapped the button and a few moments later Gideon produced a stack of folded clothes on the table beside her. She reached her limit for standing still and started hopping up and down and flapping the overlong sleeves of Leonard’s sweater. It was like a dress on her.

How had her parents kept up, though? Just looking at her bouncing around made him feel tired.

Before he could worry more about helping her dress, Kendra walking in. “There you are! I was looking for you so I could help with Sara.” Leonard smirked.

“Hi Kendra!” Sara said, waving her arm and Leonard’s sleeve with it. Her tongue stumbled on the strange sounds of the last syllable, making is sound thick and clumsy, but she seemed determined.

“Hi Sara,” she replied. “Why don’t I help you get dressed?” Sara nodded, allowing Kendra to pick up her clothes, take her hand, and lead her toward the changing cubicles.

Halfway across the room, Sara turned around and looked at Leonard. She pointed one very stern, and very adorable finger at him. “Don’t leave.”

He tamped down his smirk. “Ok. I won’t.” She nodded decisively and let Kendra lead her into the dressing room. He could hear Sara chattering away in there, though he couldn’t make out any of the words or even Kendra’s responses until they came out five minutes later.

“Yeah, I think Lenny will watch a movie with you after lunch,” Kendra said, opening the door and letting Sara out. She ran across the room and latched onto Leonard’s leg again.

He looked down at her and sighed, trying not to smile. “Time to eat?” She nodded vigorously and raised her arms toward him again. He picked her up and settled her on his hip once more. “You coming?” he asked Kendra. She nodded and followed them, watching the way she clung to him and the little smile he was trying so hard to suppress. “What do you want for lunch, Sara?” he asked as they walked into the kitchen.

She sat up straighter, putting her finger to her lips in an adorable thinking expression. “Ummm, a fried hot dog sandwich!”

“Fried hot dogs are not a nutritious option for a growing child,” Gideon interrupted.

“Gideon…” Leonard said, enough of a warning in his tone to make the AI pause.

“Additionally, they are not programmed into my replicator system.”

“Then replicate some hot dogs and bread and I’ll cook them,” Snart answered, getting just a little annoyed with the robot telling him off. The replicator turned on with a beep that sounded a little less peaceful than usual. He reached into the cabinets, pulling out a frying pan and setting it on the stove. When the replicator bonged softly to indicate it was done and Kendra rolled up the door to take out the food, Leonard went to set Sara on the counter beside the sink. “You sit here. I don’t want you to get burned by the stove.” She pouted a little, but he didn’t relent. He smoothed a hand over her hair and started heating up the pan. Kendra handed him butterflied hot dogs to fry before putting the bread in the toaster slots.

Before long, the hot dogs were frying up and smelling delicious. Sara leaned toward them, a happy smile on her face as she smelled her lunch.

“Careful you don’t fall in the sink,” Leonard said, letting go of the pan for a second to put a steadying hand on her side. She grabbed his fingers. “I need my hand so I can finish your lunch.” He extricated his hand from her tiny but powerful grip and went back to cooking. Within a few minutes, he and Kendra had plated up three fried hot dog sandwiches and were at the long kitchen table with Sara. She munched very happily on the food, making a mess and all kinds of ridiculous noises that had both adults trying not to laugh. Leonard didn’t think he’d ever seen such an enthusiastic toddler.

After Kendra took Sara to the bathroom to wash up, Leonard found himself easily coerced into taking her to his room to watch a movie. She had insisted, loudly, that they watch The Little Mermaid, so Leonard told Gideon to bring up the film on the wall of his room. He’d seen it before, many times, with Lisa, but even she hadn’t been quite as into the movie as Sara was. She bounced around beside him on the bed, and sang every song, even though she didn’t know half the words and her toddler words were not very clear. It had serious potential as blackmail material, but she was so damn cute. He couldn’t quite bring himself to do anything but watch and smile, and maybe chuckle to himself a little.

At the end of the movie, she was still trying to bounce around excitedly, but her eyes were drooping and her energy seemed to have gone. “Alright,” he said, “I think it’s time for a nap.”

“Noooo,” she whined.

“Yeeeessss,” he mimicked, making her laugh.

“Tell me a story, Lenny.” She snuggled into his side and he reclined a little so she’d be more comfortable.

“What story do you want to hear?”

“Uhhhmmmmm, tell me how you met me.”

“You know that story, already, blondie.”

“Nuh uh,” she argued. “You said you was my friend. Buhfore today.” He words got slower and sloppier as she settled further into the warmth of his sweater.

He realized that she didn’t remember that story. Of course not, she was four, they hadn’t met yet. “Ok, but you have to go to sleep. Deal?” She nodded into his chest. He thought for a moment, and then began, choosing his words carefully for her age. “Once upon a time…” She giggled. “In the year 2016, a dashing rogue named Captain Cold was making a clean getaway from his latest adventure with his partner in crime Heatwave. Out of nowhere, a crazy man in a silly looking trenchcoat shocked them. When Cold and Heatwave woke up, they were on a rooftop with six other people. Some of them were old enemies of Cold and others he’d never met before.”

Sara was still watching him with half-closed eyes. “The man in the coat gave them a choice to be legends, and they all took it. When they boarded his spaceship the next day, Captain Cold tried to get to know the beautiful blonde, the White Canary. He thought she was more normal than the rest of the crew. But on the first mission, Cold, Heatwave, and Canary were left behind. So they decided to have an adventure of their own. On their very first adventure, he found out she wasn’t normal, but she was a lot more fun. Cold knew right away they would be friends.” He glanced down at her. Her eyes were almost closed.

“You forgot to say happy ever after.”

He smiled. “Things weren’t always easy, but they stuck together. And they lived happily ever after. The end. Better?” She nodded into his chest and closed her eyes. Len dropped an absentminded kiss onto the top of her head and leaned back until he felt her breath even out. He slid out from under her, laying her out on the bed. He took off her shoes and covered her with the light blanket he kept on the end of his bed. She gripped it in one hand and tucked it under her chin.

Leonard retreated to the only chair in his room and picked up the book he had been slowly working his way through. There wasn’t much downtime, but Gideon had informed him that there was an extensive library on board. Classic literature wasn’t the most obvious of interests for a criminal mastermind, but he’d had few options for entertainment in his cell during his multiple incarcerations. When he was in juvie, he’d tried to plan an escape, but Mick had shaken his head at him and told him to just sit tight and get a hobby. So he’d picked up a book. He had refused to read most of the books on his school reading list, mostly because someone was telling him to read them.

In the years since, he’d read almost all of them. He enjoyed Poe, Dickens, Fitzgerald, Woolf, Forster, and many of the other Victorian and early modern authors. He even had a strange fondness for Victorian detective stories and their farfetched plots, calling simple thefts the crime of the century and whatnot. They were his guilty pleasure and he would deny it to anyone who asked. Except maybe Sara. She would probably just smirk and leave it at that.

At the moment, he was making his way through Dickens’s _Bleak House_ , which was long and complex and as dense as a brick. But he enjoyed the mystery plot woven through the more standard fare. Sara, well adult Sara, knew he was reading it. She’d come across him reading in the lounge a few days back and let him complain about the whiny narrator while she sharpened her knives. Maybe that was why they got along so well. She wasn’t surprised by his choice of literature. But the others tended to think if he was sitting in a common space reading, or alone in his room, he must be plotting something because he was Captain Cold. Jax was trying to see him differently after Leonard hadn’t killed him in self-defense in 1958, but it was an uphill slog to be more than the crook of the team.

Part of him liked it that way. Part of him preferred the ease of his and Sara’s friendship. And part of him was just happy to be the person tiny Sara clung to and wouldn’t let out of her sight.

After an hour and a half, Leonard decided Sara needed to wake up if she was going to ever sleep that night. He crouched beside the bed and rubbed a hand up and down her back so she would wake slowly. It was how he’d woken Lisa up when she was little. Sara’s eyes blinked open and she smiled when she saw his face.

“Hi Lenny,” she said, rubbing her eyes with one tiny fist. He smiled at her, brushing her hair back. God she was adorable, and if he valued his life he would never tell her that. He didn’t even rare tell her now, in case she remembered when she was her adult self again.

“Hey there sleepy head.” She sat up straighter in his bed, pushing the blanket off. “What do your feel like doing?” She put a finger to her lips and adopted her thinking face. “Do you want to look around the ship?”

She lit up. “Yeah!”

“Ok, you have to get your shoes on.” She quickly swung her feet over the edge to allow Leonard to put on her sneakers. He started the tour, taking her hand and leading her around the crew quarters section of the ship, which was really just a hallway, and then continued toward the bridge. About halfway through the tour, Sara leaned against his leg, wrapping an arm around his knee and making him stop.

“Can I ride on your shoulders, Lenny?”

He looked down at her and sighed, but he was smiling. “Yeah, but you have to watch out for the ceiling, okay?” She nodded enthusiastically. He picked her up under her arms and lifted her until she was sitting comfortable on his shoulders. He held onto her legs and she put her hands on his head. She liked the bridge and immediately wanted to get down so she could run around. After that, the tour quickly devolved into Leonard and Sara chasing each other around the bridge while they played space rangers. He’d done things like this when Lisa was little. He’d given her piggyback rides around the house or the backyard, and she’d pretend he was a horse she could order around. Or she’d ask to play silly games, like the floor is lava and pirates. Never cops and robbers. Generally, he’d gone with it, which made her happy.

Gideon was playing music over the bridge speakers, something with a fun beat, and Leonard was still running around with her, pretending to be shot by her fingers , which were a laser blaster, of course. Kendra came in just as Sara made a loud _pew_ and he dove behind a seat to avoid the fingers pointed in his direction. Kendra giggled and they both turned to face her.

“Kendra! You wanna play space rangers with me and Lenny?”

She smiled, but shook her head. “It’s time for dinner, sweetie. Gideon already called the guys up from the workshop.”

Sara looked over at Leonard, who had come out from behind the seats and shut off the music. “Lenny, can I ride on your shoulders?”

“Again?” She nodded. “Alright.” He lifted her onto his shoulders and followed Kendra to the kitchen. He only half listened as Sara recounted their day to Kendra. “Ok, Sara, where do you want to sit?”

“Next to you!” Kendra couldn’t help smiling.

“Ok,” he said, chuckling a little. “Do you want to sit between me and Jax?”

“Yeah!” He picked her up off his shoulders and set her in the seat beside Jax. Gideon politely informed him that she had fabricated a booster seat for Sara. He took it from a slot he didn’t know existed and helped Sara into it so she could actually reach the table. Then he went to the dispenser and helped himself to water and got Sara a glass of apple juice, while Kendra dished her up some lasagna.

Jax looked up from his conversation with Ray and Stein and realized Sara was there. “Hey Sara, how was your day? Did you have fun?”

“Yeah! Me and Lenny played on the bridge. Oh! And we watched the Little Mermaid!”

“The Little Mermaid?” He smirked at Leonard, who rolled his eyes in response.

“It was so fun! I love the Little Mermaid. Have you watched that movie Jax?” She spoke in an excited rush, but the unfamiliar sounds of Jax’s name spilled easily from her lips. Leonard furrowed his brow.

“Yeah, I think I saw it,” Jax said.

And Leonard spoke up before Sara could answer him. “Sara, you can say everyone’s name just fine except mine.” She looked up at him with big blue eyes. He raised an eyebrow. “You can say my name just fine, can’t you?” She shrugged, but there was a smile tugging at her lips.

“But you’re my Lenny!” He sighed. Damn she was cute. She could tell him anything in that tone, with that smile, and he’d let her get away with it.

“Yeah, I guess I am.” She scooted over and squeezed his arm in a hug. “Ok, come on, you need to eat your dinner.” She dug into her lasagna with gusto. “What are you all looking at?”

Rip was the only one to respond. “I believe we are all surprised at your…ability with children.”

“I have a younger sister.” He was sure that was common knowledge on the ship, but it couldn’t hurt to remind them that this wasn’t his first time watching a princess movie with a toddler. He’d been watching her alone before he was even ten. Besides, this was _Sara_ , but he wasn’t about to open that can of worms. Kendra already gave him knowing looks. He didn’t need her cooing or squealing too.

He fixed the Stein, Ray, and Jax with a look.  “How’s the cure coming?”

“Very well, Mr. Snart,” Stein  said. “I believe we may finish ahead of Gideon’s schedule.” The other two nodded along.

“We’re going through the night, well as much as we can,” Ray said.

“Yeah, Gideon can forget the scheduled eight hours of sleep,” Jax added. “We’re getting Sara back to normal as fast as we can.”

Leonard nodded, satisfied with that answer. And he was pleased with Jax’s determination. He liked the kid, probably the most out of the geniuses at the end of the table. The was no denying Jax was smart. He’d taught himself how to work on a space ship; he was incredibly bright, but without the pretension of Stein or Raymond’s lack of sense. He wouldn’t call them friends, but Leonard appreciated Jax, liked him even. But without Mick on board, his priority was Sara. It had been shifting that way even before Mick’s departure, and he knew it. And he felt sure that Mick had known it, too.

Dinner was a relatively quiet affair, punctuated occasionally by Sara chattering excitedly about something to Leonard or Jax or Kendra, and Leonard quietly telling her to eat. Sara sat on the counter while Kendra loaded the dishes in the dishwasher and happily talked about her favorite princesses. She liked Belle because she was smart like her mom, but she was sad there weren’t any tough princesses. When Kendra told her about Mulan, which hadn’t existed when she was actually four, she got very excited and wanted to watch it right away.

“Maybe we can watch it tomorrow. I think it’s a little late tonight. We should probably get you to sleep soon.”

“Okay. Lenny!” She lifted her arms toward him as he walked back into the kitchen from having a strong word with Rip in the corridor. He picked her up from the counter and settled her on his hip, tickling her side once he had a grip on her. She giggled into his neck.

“I was thinking she could sleep in your room tonight, in the extra bed.”

“Of course,” Kendra said. She and Sara had enjoyed being roommates for the short time they had been. But now she had Carter’s old room and Sara normally had her own, but she completely agreed that she shouldn’t be alone at night in a strange place.

“Noooo, Lennyyyy! I wanna sleep in your room!” She was whining, not crying, the same thing Lisa has done to get her way when she was little. It didn’t work on him anymore.

“Sara. You were Kendra’s roommate before, so you’re going to sleep in her room tonight.” She pouted her lower lip, but stopped whining. “But I’ll make you a deal. I’ll leave my door unlocked and if you need me you can just come in. Gideon will make sure you can open it, okay?” She nodded and hugged him, burying her face in his neck again. He held her a little tighter. “Come on, go with Kendra and she’ll get your pajamas on and get you to bed.”

“Will she tell me a story?” Sara asked with a yawn.

“Yeah, I’m sure she will.”

Leonard considered going down to check on the progress of the aging ray, but he realized he was a lot more tired than he thought. And Sara would probably wake up early. He remembered Lisa jumping on his bed at 6am all the time. So sleep was probably a good idea. He went to his room and changed into the sweats he slept in, and crawled into bed with his book. He figured he’d read for a little while before he slept.

“Gideon, if Sara comes to the door while I’m asleep, just let her in.”

“Of course, Mr. Snart.”

“And dim the lights to 50 percent.” He read about half a chapter before he was too tired and put it on the bedside table.

 

* * *

 

Sometime around two, Leonard half-woke to the sound of the door opening. He woke up fully when something small and warm and crying landed on his chest. Crying? He opened his eyes and saw Sara’s mess of blonde hair. She was shaking and he could feel her tears wetting his shirt.

“Sara? What’s wrong sweetie?” She sniffled and didn’t answer. “Did you have a bad dream?” She nodded. “Do you want to tell me what it was?”

“It was dark,” she said, voice thick with tears. He wrapped his arms around her back, rubbing nonsense patterns. “The people were trying to grab me and they had skeleton hands.” She pressed deeper into his chest. “They were mad at me. They wanted to hurt me, I could hear them. And Laurel was pulling me up. And they were grabbing my feet and pulling. They wanted me to stay and be a skeleton with them, or they were gonna hurt me. I don’t want them to hurt me.” She sobbed into his chest.

“Shhh, it’s ok sweetie, I won’t let them hurt you. I promise. Do you trust me?” She nodded, her sobs quieting, but her tears not slowing. “Ok, you just stay in here with me tonight. I won’t let anything get you.” He continued rubbing her back, listening to her sobs peter out and feeling her tears slow. He realized part way through her explanation that she’d probably been dreaming about the Lazarus Pit, something she’d only scraped the surface of with him. If she was having adult Sara’s nightmares, then it seemed likely she would remember her time as a toddler when they cured her. It seemed strange to him that she was physically and mentally the same as she had been at age four, but could unconsciously remember the Pit. Eventually, he realized she’d fallen back asleep, listening to the sound of his heart beat. It took Leonard a lot longer to fall asleep after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, sorry about the nightmare at the end there.
> 
> I will continue working on this of course and post the conclusion when I can. I'll also probably be posting a lot of the prompts I've missed due to vacation soon, even after hiatus is over.


	4. Tiny Sara Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leonard learns that Sara is a con-artist, the brainiacs finish the aging ray, and there is a significant amount of cuteness. Literally so much cuteness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished it!!! Just in time for the new episode (and Captain Canary kiss) tonight!
> 
> This chapter stalled me at times, but I'm really happy with the end result. There's some good sci-fi science babble. Parts of it are so fluffy I'm almost surprised Len didn't break the fourth wall just to tell me to stop making him so mushy.
> 
> Also I'm working on the next chapter of Groundhog Day, I promise. It's gonna be good! And I'm doing the Take Your Fandom to Work Day challenge for Legends, so look out for that within the month (hopefully). And if you want, follow me on Tumblr at pineappleyogurt.
> 
> One with the show, enjoy!

Leonard woke by inches, slow and content in a way he rarely was. Sara’s warm weight still lay on his chest, and her mess of blonde hair greeted him when he opened his eyes. It didn’t surprise him much that she was still asleep. Sara’s relationship with mornings – nightmare-induced insomnia notwithstanding – was well known on the ship. She hated mornings, which usually gave Kendra an excuse to use her barista skills.

He watched her for a little while, knowing there was no way he could get out from under her. It didn’t bother him. What bothered him was the nightmare she’d had. It was clearly about the Pit. She’d mentioned Laurel pulling her up, out of the water, and Sara had let slip a while back that her sister was the one who had insisted they bring her back. He’d have to thank the Black Canary for that next time he was in 2016. In the meantime, he’d talk to Gideon about making sure Sara had a good day today to make up for it.

Sara didn’t wake, despite his conversation with the AI. He smoothed a hand over her hair, then reached over to the bedside table to grab his book.

Several chapters later, he felt Sara stir. She rubbed her tired eyes with one fist. “Lenny?” she said, voice thick with sleep.

“I’m right here, Sara.” He rubbed his hand across her back. She blinked heavily.

“I’m hungry,” she whined.

Leonard chuckled, the vibration in his chest making Sara giggle. “Ok, then we need to get up.” He set his book on the bedside table. Then he sat up slowly, holding Sara to his chest with one hand. He reached for his boots with the other, sliding them on and standing up. Sara kept her head tucked into his chest as he carried her through the ship toward the kitchen. “What do you want for breakfast?” His low voice rumbled in her ear.

“Uhmmm, pancakes,” she replied into the collar of his shirt.

“Pancakes it is.” Leonard walked into the kitchen. Rip sat at the end of the table reading a holo-newspaper and sipping his tea. His plate of toast, sausage, and eggs sat half-finished in front of him. Otherwise the room was empty. Leonard walked up to the glass cooktop, tapping buttons to get it heating. “Gideon, pancake batter, and make it snappy.” The replicator bonged softly to indicate it was processing. He pulled out a griddle pan and some cooking spray.

“Batter up,” Gideon said, rolling up the replicator door to reveal a cup with a spout filled with pancake batter.

A wry smile quirked Leonard’s lips. He would not laugh at Gideon’s terrible joke. No need to give the AI a swelled head. He took the cup and began to pour out pancakes on the griddle with his free hand. Sara watched him with lidded eyes from her perch on his hip. Once he’d finished the batter and made a stack of pancakes, Leonard looked down at the tiny version of Sara falling back to sleep on his chest.

“What do you want on your pancakes? Just syrup?”

“Can I have strawberries?”

“Sure.”

“And ice cream?”

“Sure.” He smiled at her. “Gideon, can we get some strawberries and vanilla ice cream?”

There was a noticeable pause. “Mr. Snart, ice cream does not constitute a nutritious breakfast for a young child. I must remind you that Ms. Lance is only four years old and should eat plenty of protein and whole grains.”

“Can it, Gideon. I thought we agreed Sara could have anything she wants today.”

“That is what you told me, but I did not agree, Mr. Snart.”

He groaned. “Just replicate the strawberries and ice cream, Gideon, before I get Jax and Raymond to reprogram you.”

The replicator beeped more angrily than usual, but a bowl of strawberries in their own syrup and a small carton of vanilla ice cream appeared nonetheless. Leonard carried each thing to the table, making sure not to jostle Sara too much. He was just putting Sara in her booster seat when Kendra walked into the kitchen carrying an empty drink tray. She made a little coo of surprise and delight when she saw them. Leonard tried not to roll his eyes. Kendra was nice and she didn’t deserve his irritation. Besides, he was fully aware of how he must look taking care of Sara. He wouldn’t say so out loud, but he wasn’t oblivious.

“Morning,” she said distractedly. “Sorry, I was going to make breakfast, but the guys really needed coffee. They worked through the night.”

Leonard waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t mention it. Really.” He put two small pancakes on Sara’s plate and started loading strawberries and ice cream on top. “How are the brainiacs coming?”

Kendra shrugged. “They seemed like they were on a roll. I told them they have to stop to eat soon, though. Do you want some coffee?” He nodded. “Sara, what do you want to drink, sweetie?”

“Chocolate milk!” Kendra laughed and nodded, going over to the dispenser and filling a glass with chocolate milk, even as she started the espresso maker for Leonard’s coffee. She set the plastic cup in front of Sara while the coffee brewed, and went to pull out syrup and butter for the pancakes. She set a cappuccino in front of Leonard, before going back to the stove to make more pancakes and cook some bacon and eggs to go with them. The ‘brainiacs’ would need a nutritious breakfast to keep them going on so little sleep for the rest of the day. Leonard sat down next to Sara and dished up his own pancakes, with strawberries and ice cream too.

A short while later, Jax, Ray, and Stein trudged into the kitchen, yammering on about polarization and ion flow or some such babble. They flopped down into three seats at the end of the table, piling pancakes, eggs, and bacon onto their plates with varying levels of enthusiasm. They’d taken all but one serving of everything by the time Kendra sat down across from Leonard. Once they had at least some food in their stomachs, their frantic energy seemed to calm.

Jax turned to look at Sara, munching happily on a piece of pancake slathered in strawberry syrup and melting ice cream. “Good morning, Sara,” he said. It was sweet, the way he smiled at her. Especially since she terrified him more than anyone else on the ship when she was an adult. Sara liked Jax, though – it was hard not to.

“Mornin’ Jax,” she said, giving him a wide, sticky smile. His grin could have powered the whole ship.

“Is Lenny taking good care of you?” he teased.

She nodded. “He made me pancakes with strawberries and ice cream!”

“Wow! That was really nice of him,” Jax said.

Content that Sara was entertained, Leonard turned to Kendra. “She escaped your room last night.”

“Yeah, I noticed that. Gideon said she was sleeping in your room, so I figured she was fine.” She paused, watching his face for a moment. “Was that alright?” There was a sort of tentativeness with Kendra when she dealt with him sometimes, like she wasn’t sure if he was going to go off on her or turn on the team. She’d acted much the same way with Mick. And look how that had ended up.

He nodded. “She had a bad dream.” Grown-up Sara might not want him to elaborate, so he left it at that. “I doubt she tried to wake you. Probably came running to my room at the first excuse.” He smirked; grown-up Sara was fond of plausible deniability too. For a long moment, he watched this young version of his friend trying to scoop ice cream on her fork and giggling at something Jax was saying. Part of him wanted to keep her like this forever, carefree and happy and unburdened by scars and past and bloodlust. But she remembered the pit. It struck him in a flash, in the way these things do. If she could remember the pit, she might still feel that bloodlust. And the thought of having to hold down four-year-old Sara as she tried to claw his face off was enough to shake him to his core.

Slow breath in. He dislodged the image from his mind. Besides, he liked the flawed, strong person Sara was. Innocence wasn’t always a blessing. She looked up and caught him watching her. Then smiled brightly at him with mischief twinkling in her eyes, a look he’d seen on her adult self a fair few times. He missed her, missed her humor and snark, not that little Sara wasn’t plenty sassy.

“Eggheads,” he called down the table. “How’s the aging ray coming?”

“Really well,” Ray answered around a mouthful of pancake, so it sounded more like, “Wreee welg.”

“Dude, say it, don’t spray it,” Jax said over his shoulder.

Stein furrowed his brow at Ray. “We are making better progress than Gideon expected, and we plan to test the device this afternoon.”

“That’s very good to hear. We shouldn’t linger here longer than necessary,” Rip interjected.

“We should get back to work, then,” Stein said, standing from his place. Ray and Jax followed suit.

“Bye Sara,” Jax said, ruffling her hair. She dimpled up at him.

After the eggheads left, Leonard turned to Sara. “Why don’t you go with Kendra and get cleaned up and dressed for the day?” She looked up at him with wide eyes, pout already forming. “I need to change, too, and when you’re dressed, we can do whatever you want.” Seeming to realize that was the best she was going to get, she nodded. She wiped her sticky face on her napkin, which did nothing but spread the mess around. Kendra giggled and Leonard tried not to smile down at her.

“Come on Sara,” Kendra said, getting up and going to pick Sara up from her seat. The little girl went willingly, but with a stern glare at Leonard that clearly told him not to disappear while she was gone. He reached out and tickled one sock clad foot as she passed. That earned him a full belly laugh. Rip watched them with an odd look. Maybe he was thinking of Jonas. Or maybe he still wasn’t used to Leonard’s ease with children.

Really, Len wasn’t either. With Lisa, it had been this overwhelming desire to protect her and make sure she was happier than he had been. And he didn’t think he’d ever want children of his own. But this was Sara. He wanted to protect her like he did with Lisa, but there was something else there, something that was specific to Sara. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

He stood from the table. “Dishes are on you,” he said to Rip.

“But –” Rip started to say, surveying the mess before him.

“Kendra and I made breakfast and the eggheads are busy.” He stepped out of the kitchen, effectively silencing any further protest.

 

* * *

 

Leonard met Kendra and Sara outside the fabrication room several minutes later. Sara was no longer covered in melted ice cream or stained red from the strawberries, and she wore a clean pair of jeans and an orange shirt. Apparently, little Sara liked orange. She had been chattering to Kendra when he walked up, and as soon as she saw him, she ran and attached herself to his leg. His hand went to her hair and she looked up at him with that same wide grin and mischief in her eyes.

“I see how it is,” Kendra teased. “You don’t need me anymore.” Sara shook her head with a wide, silly grin, hair flying all over. Kendra laughed. “You’ve got your Lenny.” Sara squeezed his leg tighter and he smiled down at her. “If you need anything, I’ll be around,” she said to Leonard. He appreciated her offer, but he also appreciated that she didn’t act surprised about his interactions with their toddler version of Sara. She was usually perceptive and kind, and he could respect that, even though it wasn’t really his thing. He nodded and she waved goodbye to Sara before heading down the corridor.

“Ok, Sara, what do you want to do? Did you want to watch Mulan?”

She put a finger to her lips and made what he thought of as her thinking face. Then she shook her head. “Lenny, close your eyes.” He eyed her warily. “Pleeeeease. Close your eyes.” He closed them to slits, so he could just see her. “All the way!” He let them shut and then pulled them up to slits again. She huffed and he could see her standing back, watching him with her tiny fists on her tiny hips. “Count to – uh – uh hundred!”

“A hundred?” he asked, eyelids fluttering with the strain of keeping them so close to closed.

“Uh huh.”

“One, two, three…” Before he even reached ten, he realized what was happening, and he also realized that Sara wasn’t standing in front of him anymore. But he could hear her running footsteps and followed. She took three turns before he lost even the sound and he sighed. He’d played a lot of hide-and-go-seek with Lisa, but that was in their house or backyard. There were a lot more places to hide on the Waverider, and a lot more dangerous places. If she had asked, he would have said no. And that’s when it hit him that she’d probably asked Kendra. As the responsible one, she had definitely said no.

Sara was a four-year-old con-artist. She knew that she had him wrapped around her little finger and he could be tricked into pretty much anything by her big blue eyes and happy smile. Leonard rubbed the bridge of his nose. He would go look for her, and if he couldn’t find her, he would swallow his pride.

Twenty minutes later, he was no closer to finding her than he had been when he’d first lost her trail. He’d tried logically searching the area of the ship she’d disappeared in, calling her name, searching at random, thinking like Sara to figure out where she would go, and even calling ‘Olly Olly oxen free’ to no avail. Len sighed, but with an underlying note of panic.

“Gideon.”

“Yes, Mr. Snart?”

“Where is Sara?” He really hoped she didn’t rat him out to Rip. That was not a battle he wanted to fight at the moment. He’d win, but still.

There was a noticeable pause. “Ms. Lance said I’m not supposed to tell you.”

“She’s four, Gideon.”

“She said you are playing the children’s game hide-and-go-seek.”

He sighed deeply. Dealing with Gideon could be trying. “Can you at least make sure she doesn’t leave the ship? Remove her privileges for external doors, or whatever it is you do.”

“Ms. Lance’s privileges for external doors were suspended yesterday,” the AI said, in a suspiciously smug tone.

“You’re not going to tell me where she is, are you?”

“Ms. Lance specifically stated that it would be ‘against the rules’ for me to help you.”

Leonard rolled his eyes and went to find Kendra. At least she would only laugh at him a little bit. Rip would probably have a coronary. And the brainiacs were busy, not that he wanted to hear Raymond’s stupid laugh or Stein’s lecture. Jax would probably be helpful if it came down to that.

He found Kendra in the kitchen with a steaming cup of tea and a book. She looked up at him, smile already forming until she realized Sara wasn’t with him.

“Is Sara taking a nap?”

Len fought a grimace. “No, not exactly.”

“She talked you into hide-and-seek, didn’t she?”

“You could say that,” he replied, “if it didn’t imply that we talked or agreed.” Kendra raised a very amused eyebrow. “She’s a first class con-artist.”

Kendra, as expected, laughed. “Oh, Snart. She’s a little sister and a daddy’s girl, of course she’s a con-artist.”

“If you’re done…”

“I’ll help you find her.”

They stepped out into the corridor and Kendra followed Leonard in the direction he’d last seen Sara. “She ran off toward the cargo hold, but I checked behind every crate.”

“Did you check in the crates?”

He glared at her as if to remind her that he was a world-class thief. “All the ones she could open.”

Kendra hummed thoughtfully. “Well, we’ve got to think like Sara, then.”

“Tried that. Didn’t work.”

“Were you thinking like grown-up Sara, or toddler Sara?” He raised an eyebrow. “This Sara doesn’t have League of Assassins training. And she’s a little girl.” He conceded her point with a half-nod and a hum. “You know her best. Where would she go?”

They stopped in the corridor outside the cargo bay. Sara had come down this way for sure, but he’d lost her at the last corner. Leonard looked around. She knew the ship pretty well by now, having made him give her the longest tour ever yesterday. And this corridor was also the long way to the crew quarters. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I know where she went.” He waved for Kendra to follow and he walked Sara’s path from the hold to their quarters, stopping in front of his own door. Kendra was very nearly smirking. Leonard opened the door. At first glance, the room looked empty, but the desk chair was pushed in just a little too far. Relief slowly coursed through him. He hummed loudly and tapped his finger against his chin in mock thought. Then he pulled out the desk chair.

Sara sat curled up in the back of the footwell. She dimpled up at him, eyes sparkling in the dim light. She lunged forward, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

“Lenny! You found me!” she laughed. Leonard wrapped both arms around her and lifted her out of her hiding place. A piece of him was furious at her for running off, and another just glad to have found her.

“I’ll always find you,” he said into her hair. She snuggled deeper into his arms. “But Sara,” he said, pulling back so she would look at him. “This is important. No more running off and hiding. I was worried about you getting lost or getting hurt. Do you understand?” She pouted her bottom lip, but nodded. “Good.” He hugged her again, just to remind her that he wasn’t that mad. “Do you want to watch a movie before lunch?”

“Yeah!”

Kendra smiled at them from the doorway. “I’m going to get started on lunch,” she said.

He nodded. “Say bye to Kendra.”

“Bye Kendra!!” Sara called with a big wave, her other hand fisted tightly in the collar of Leonard’s shirt.

“Kendra,” Leonard said, catching her attention just as she was leaving. “Thank you.” She nodded once, smiling without any of the wariness she usually reserved for the Rogues. Then she left and the door slid shut behind her. “Ok blondie, what movie do you want to watch?” She shrugged. “Do you want to watch a princess movie?” She shook her head. “Something with a lot of singing?” She shook her head. “Well, what do you want to watch?”

“I dunno.” She snuggled closer, and he suspected that she had been hiding longer than she’d meant to. That maybe she’d started to worry.

“How about a movie where the very smart detective saves the pretty girl?” She tilted her head and nodded. “Gideon, can you play ‘The Great Mouse Detective’ in my quarters?”

“Of course, Mr. Snart.” The animated film sprang to life on the far wall and Leonard sat down on his bed, kicking off his boots and getting Sara comfortable on his lap. He’d really enjoyed this movie when he watched it with Lisa, even though it was severely underrated as a Disney movie. Sara watched with quiet fascination, tucking her face into his neck whenever she thought something bad was going to happen. Then she laughed when something silly got them out of it. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“I was scared, Lenny,” she said, still tucked into his side. He looked down at her, but she wasn’t looking at him. “What if you didn’t find me?”

Len chucked under her chin with the side of his finger. She looked up at him. “I’ll always come for you. Got that?” She nodded. He hugged her close and she settled against his chest, a little smile playing across her lips.

When the movie finished, Leonard carried Sara to the kitchen for lunch. Kendra and Gideon had made a selection of sandwiches, laid out on various plates in the middle of the table. Rip was seating himself when they walked in, and Kendra was already sitting in her spot, munching on a chicken salad sandwich and still trying to read. She looked up when they reached the table and smiled. Leonard put Sara in her booster seat and went to the dispenser to get her juice and his water. She was back to her happy, energetic self, telling Kendra all about the movie when the others came in.

They looked beat, in more than one sense of the word. They were tired, grease stained, and Ray even had a bruise on his jaw. Len wondered who had punched him. Maybe Jax.

Terrified of her though he was, Jax liked Sara and she got along with him much better than the other eggheads. Likely because he at least had a sense of humor.

The three of them sat at the end of the table, piling sandwiches onto their plates and digging in without so much as a word to the others. Kendra looked down the table at them with a raised eyebrow.

“How’s it coming, gentlemen?” Rip asked.

Stein looked up. “We need a run a few more tests to be certain we can properly calibrate the ray to advance Ms. Lance the exact number of years she has lost.”

“But we should be done by this evening, barring any disasters,” Ray finished.

Leonard quirked a smirk. “Speaking of disasters, Raymond, what happened to your face?”

Jax started laughing. “We were aging a box hedge and Ray was standing a little too close. It grew and hit him in the face.” Ray grimaced.

“You got punched by a plant?” Leonard asked, smirk deepening. Oh, he was enjoying this.

Ray nodded hesitantly. “He’s just lucky it wasn’t the rose bush,” Jax laughed.

“Hey, I think I’m smart enough to stay out of the way of something with thorns!”

“Debatable,” Leonard quipped.

 

* * *

 

After lunch, Leonard took Sara back to his room to watch Mulan, which she had specifically requested. Gideon was reluctant, but Leonard was convincing.

“She may be four, Gideon, but she’s still Sara from 2016, not 1991. You’re not altering the timeline.” There was a long pause as she analyzed his argument. When she found no fault in it, the movie began on the far wall of his quarters. He smirked to himself.

Sara loved Mulan. Love might have been too weak a description for how much she enjoyed it, actually. She followed it with rapt attention, which was a miracle in itself given her hyperactive toddler nature, bounced and swayed along to the music, and even started fighting along with her in the action scenes. Len watched her more than the movie, which he’d snuck Lisa in to see in the theater when she was a kid, because he didn’t have money for the tickets. He didn’t consider himself the type to coo over children, though he didn’t dislike them, but he had to hold back laughter and overly fond smiles every time Sara got too into the movie. Part of him wished Lisa had been really young when the movie had come out so she could have been this enthusiastic about it too.

Of course, jumping on the bed to fight the Huns tired Sara out pretty quickly, especially after her escapade around the ship that morning. As the credits wound down, she dropped herself onto Leonard’s lap. He ran a hand over her hair.

“Lenny, I’m sleeeeepy.”

He wasn’t surprised. Though in his experience kids usually didn’t want to take their naps. Lisa hadn’t. “You can take a nap before dinner. I won’t do anything fun without you.”

“Bett’r nottt,” she mumbled into his knee. “Can I dream ‘bout Mulan?”

“Sure you can. Just think about the movie and close your eyes,” he answered. He hoped she wasn’t thinking of her pit nightmare the night before. His hand dragged up and down her back, soothing her overactive mind. She was asleep before the credits finished.

For a while, Leonard was content to sit there with her, savoring the calm. Eventually, his curiosity got the better of him. It was the first time since this morning that he’d been alone with Gideon and not panicked about finding Sara.

“Gideon,” he began in a hushed tone. “Volume low.” She chimed quietly to acknowledge the command. “Can you figure out why four-year-old Sara can remember the Lazarus Pit in her dreams?” It had been bugging him since she’d appeared in his room last night.

“I believe it involves your assertion that she is still the Sara Lance of 2016. My scans indicate that although she has the appearance, size, health, and mind of her four-year-old self, Ms. Lance’s cells remain for the most part unchanged by the de-aging ray.”

“So, the Lazarus Pit changes a person on a cellular level? Infusing their cells with something from the Pit?”

“That is the prevailing theory among Lazarus Pit scholars.”

“There are Lazarus Pit scholars?”

“A few.”

“Is Rip one?”

A pause. “Captain Hunter has engaged extensively in the scholarly discourse surrounding the League of Assassins and the Lazarus Pit.”

“So yes.”

Another pause. “Yes.”

“So, does she still have the bloodlust?”

“My scans indicate that she is not currently displaying the biochemical markers present when Ms. Lance has noted the effects of her bloodlust.”

“But –?”

“But the cellular and neurological differences that are thought to be the physiological manifestation of bloodlust are still present.”

Leonard took a moment to ponder this. He wasn’t a doctor or scientist, but he wasn’t stupid by any stretch, and sometimes he even paid attention when the eggheads babbled. “So her brain chemistry is the same as it is on a normal day when her bloodlust isn’t high.”

“With adjustment for her age, yes.”

“So, she could lose control, even at this age, because the bloodlust is in her cells?”

“Yes.”

“Fantastic. Those geniuses better be working hard.”

“My calculations estimate the aging ray will be calibrated before dinner has finished cooking.”

“It was rhetorical. But thank you Gideon, you can go away now.”

“I cannot go away, Mr. Snart. I am everywhere in the ship at any given time.”

Yeah, because that wasn’t creepy. “Gideon, shut up.” He suspected he’d annoyed her, but she did shut up so he didn’t really care.

Now all he had to do was stretch just right and he could reach his book without dislodging Sara. His fingers barely closed around the corner of the paperback on his bedside table, but his skill as a pickpocket kept him from dropping it as he straightened up. He settled with his back against the wall and picked up from where he’d left off that morning, one hand rubbing senseless patterns on Sara’s back.

Leonard let Sara sleep a little longer then the day before out of an emotion he didn’t try to name. If Jax, Raymond, and Stein really got their device working by dinner, then Sara might be in for an eventful night. So if he let her nap a little longer than he otherwise would have, no one had to know.

When it started getting closer to dinner, Len set his book aside and shook her shoulder lightly. After a minute, Sara started to blink blearily up at him.

“D’you have a good nap?”

“Uh huh.”

“Have any good dreams?” She nodded. “About what?”

“I was flying!” she said with a dreamy smile on her face. “I could feel the wind!” She flapped her hands toward her face, mimicking the feeling. Len couldn’t help smiling down at her.

“How about dinner? Do you wanna go see what Kendra’s making?” Sara sat up quickly, nodding all the while. She liked Kendra. Admittedly, she seemed to like Kendra as an alternative to Leonard when he was out of the room, but their friendship had clearly carried over. Which was nice because Kendra had actually done this in her past lives and Leonard felt like his experience with Lisa was woefully inadequate when taking care of Sara. “Ok, let’s get your shoes on.”

 

* * *

 

In the kitchen, Kendra was putting the finishing touches on a vegetable lasagna and pulling a loaf of garlic bread out of Gideon’s broiler. She smiled at them when they came in, Sara perched on Leonard’s hip and chattering to him about birds, or something like that. It was hard to tell when she talked so fast that her toddler words tripped over one another on their way out. Leonard understood her apparently, because of course he did.

He walked over to the dispenser to get her apple juice and his ice water. He handed her juice to her and carried her over to the table. Kendra could hear her better now as she was setting the table near where Leonard was putting Sara in her booster seat. She talked rapidly about a pretty bird she had seen and how much she wanted one. It took Kendra a minute to realize that Sara had actually gotten a bird from her father and that it had been the genesis of her League name. They’d talked about it one afternoon in the training room.

“Gideon, can you call Martin, Ray, and Jax to dinner?” Kendra asked, just as Rip walked into the kitchen.

“Of course, Ms. Saunders.” A moment later. “Mr. Jackson, Dr. Palmer, and Professor Stein are on their way.”

“Thank you, Gideon.”

Dinner was a very different affair. The ‘brainiacs’ were less frantic and actually able to engage with the others like their normal selves. Between Jax and Leonard, Sara was entertained and busy. Both Ray and Stein were more than willing to explain how the device worked, depending on how overenthusiastic or pedantic the explanation needed to be.

They all looked exhausted. And much as he hated to admit it even to himself, Leonard appreciated that they were willing to forego sleep to help Sara. He doubted they’d do so as readily if he were the one in that position. Unless Sara was threatening them, of course. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled. She was attacking her lasagna with gusto.

When all the plates had been cleared and the guys at the end had had seconds, Jax stood and started taking plates to the sink. “You’ve been keeping us going, Kendra. Let us clean up.” Ray jumped up and echoed the sentiment. Stein did as well, designating himself to store the leftovers and put away dishes. Kendra sat back and enjoyed them waiting on her.

Most household tasks, like cleaning the stove or doing laundry, could be done by Gideon’s automated systems. Certain things, like taking food from the replicator to the table or plates from the table to the dishwasher, obviously had to be done by hand. And the kitchen had a full range of appliances which allowed the more enterprising team members to cook things not programmed into the replicator using ingredients that Gideon could already produce.

As such, cooking was usually a round robin with the crew. Most of them used the replicator for most things, sometimes for everything. And everyone usually put their own dishes in the dishwasher. But with Leonard taking care of Sara, Rip taking care of the ship, and Jax, Ray, and Stein busy building Sara’s cure, all those tasks had fallen to Kendra. She was undoubtedly good at them, and it gave her a lot of quiet time to herself, but it did remind her of the few lifetimes in which she’d been a stay-at-home mom. She’d enjoyed it, but it wasn’t really her thing anymore. It was nice that the guys didn’t take it for granted.

Leonard, meanwhile, was busy with a different kind of clean-up. Sara was a grinning mess of sauce. It was completely adorable. But he wanted her to be clean for her cure later. He cleaned her face and hands with wet paper towels and then let her dry them. She smiled up at him.

“Sara, we need to talk about something.” She looked at him, blue eyes wide and questioning. God, how was he supposed to explain this a four-year-old? “You’re not the right age,” he stumbled. She only looked more confused. He sighed. “Remember how I said you were my friend before?” She nodded. This she remembered and understood. “Well, when I know you, you’re almost thirty years old. But a very bad man shot you with a ray gun and now you’re four. So Jax, and Martin, and Raymond built a ray gun to change you back.” The confusion was still there, but it was lessened. “When they’re done with the dishes, they’re going to change you back.”

Sara nodded slowly. “It’s okay?” He understood what she didn’t know how to ask. She was scared.

“Yeah, blondie, it’s okay. They’re the best and you’ll be back to your old self in no time.”

She gasped. “I’m gonna be old!”

Her horror shocked a laugh out of him. “Not as old as me.”

 

* * *

 

Ray and Stein led the team down to the machine room where they had set up the new aging ray. Leonard carried Sara, who was practically turned around in his arms to pay attention to Jax, who was trying to distract her. There was a large X in the middle of an open area of the floor and a ray cannon that looked very similar to the one Savage’s men had been using at the end of the room facing it. Beside a little cubby in the corner, there was a stack of folded clothes.

“Is that my sweater?” Leonard asked, gaze falling on the navy blue knit.

“Yeah. Sara doesn’t have much that’s not either v-neck or formfitting,” Kendra answered. “Ray said she’d need bigger clothes, so I had Gideon give me some of your clean laundry.”

Leonard rolled his eyes, but said nothing further. Kendra took Sara over to the clothes and helped her change into Leonard’s sweater, which swam on her, and a pair of his sweats. They were so big on her, they probably could have been cut into hot pants and still would have reached the floor. Sara, predictably, loved them and found the whole clothing situation hilarious.

“Ok, Sara, we need you to stand on this X,” Jax said, taking her hand from Kendra and making sure she was standing in the exact spot he needed her.

Her fingers wound tightly around his. “Is it gonna hurt?”

Jax hesitated. He didn’t know. “I don’t think so.” She looked over at Leonard, who smiled tightly and nodded once. She nodded at Jax and let go of his hand.

Once everyone but Sara was behind the cannon, Ray powered it up. It let out a high-pitched whine, then settled. He pressed the button.

A pale teal light shot out of the barrel and hit Sara squarely in the chest, knocking her back. Leonard wished he’d brought his goggles. When their vision cleared, Sara was sitting on the floor a few feet behind the X, still a toddler. For a moment, there was utter silence. Then she started to sniffle. And then cry.

“Lenny!” Leonard was kneeling beside her more quickly than any of the others thought possible. “I don’t feel good,” she cried. Carefully, he bundled her up in his overlarge clothes and held her to his chest. She buried her face in the collar of his shirt. Her tears were wet against his neck and he could hear her cry starting to slow. Standing smoothly, Leonard didn’t even spare a glance at the team, let alone a glare. He carried Sara to his room without question, without ever loosening his hold on her. Her cries had mostly tapered off by the time they reached his door.

He slid his hugely oversized sweats off of her with one hand, and toed off his boots. Then he sat down on his bed with Sara curled against his chest. He made little shushing sounds, and rubbed her back. She gripped his shirt with a tiny iron fist. He pressed his face into her hair. It took a couple of minutes, but she calmed down.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” he asked gently. She nodded. “Can I get up and change?” She looked up at him with confused eyes and a pout. “I’m just gonna put on pajamas so we can go to sleep.”

“Okay,” she whispered. He laid her on the bed and went to his closet to change. Since they were already clean, he pulled on the sweats Sara had been wearing and grabbed a long sleeved t-shirt from his drawer. The moment he was back on the bed, Sara latched onto him. He rolled over slowly so she was lying on top of him like she had the night before. She rested her head against his chest and he thought that maybe it was his heartbeat that was comforting. He could feel hers hammering against his ribs.

“You feel a little better?” She nodded. “Gideon, sleep mode.” The lights dimmed slowly. Leonard pulled the blanket up and curled an arm over Sara’s back. After a few minutes, he felt the puffs of her breath against his neck slow and even out.

He was going to have a strong word with the eggheads in the morning. It would probably involve his fist or his cold gun. It might even involve words.

Pressing a kiss to Sara’s crown, he resigned himself to a sleepless night. At which point, of course, he fell into an exhausted sleep.

 

* * *

 

Sara woke to find only very dim lights cast around the room. Disoriented, she didn’t realize it was familiar for a long moment. Leonard’s room. She shifted, her bare legs rubbing against someone else’s. Leonard’s. She felt his chest rise and fall slowly under her cheek. When she didn’t feel quite so displaced and dizzy, Sara poked him in the ribs. His eyes sprang open and settled on her grown-up face watching him.

“Sara,” he breathed, relief flooding his features.

“You should be nicer to Ray,” she said, smiling widely.

“Still not gonna happen.”

She watched him watch her for a few moment. “Can I have some shorts?”

He smirked, but nodded, sliding out from under her. “Don’t want pants?”

“Despite the name, you’re like a furnace. And I’m sleeping here.” He didn’t even bother to argue, just tossed her a pair of boxers from his drawer. He wanted her to stay too. She slid them on under the covers and he climbed back into bed.

Stretching like a cat, Sara draped herself half over him, close to her earlier position. “Thank you for taking care of me,” she said, propping her chin on his chest to look at him. “I haven’t had that much fun in, god, a lifetime.”

“It wasn’t so bad. But I have no idea how your parents kept up.”

She made an amused little hum. “Me neither.” She watched him for a long moment. “You know,” she said, biting her lip, “you’d make a good dad one day.”

His hand clenched reflexively where it rested on her side. “Never thought I’d hear that.” Sara tilted her head in question. “Always figured I wouldn’t have kids, just so I could be sure I won’t end up like my old man.”

“Not possible. Even when I ran off and you couldn’t find me, you didn’t scream or yell or freak out like my parents would have. You made my little four-year-old brain understand why you were upset.” He looked away from her. “Len, you would make a really good dad, if you ever decided you wanted that.” It wasn’t an offer, not really, but her unquestioned faith in him filled him with warmth.

She rested her head at his collar bone and wrapped an arm around his torso. His arm around her back drew her close in something like a hug. Habit had him pressing a kiss to the top of her head and she sighed breathily against his chest.

“My Lenny.”

His deep chuckle rumbled through her chest. Sara smiled and closed her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos reviews and kind encouragement throughout the writing of this fic. I really really appreciate it!!!
> 
> (ETA: Also, if you notice any bad typos, feel free to point them out. Parts of this were typed on my tablet which corrects things like Sara's to Sarasota or Len to Lenovo. Thanks!)


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